No, he listed everything out on an estimate sheet but only one big nbr. I’m sure that’s just what he charges and i need to get a couple more estimates to see where to cut back
It might just be smarter to lay pavers over patio
^^be careful if they end up being higher than the height of the new floor when walking out via the new slider.
Here’s plan B:
I like @zipyourlips’ idea for the parking patio.
Use pressure-treated 2x4’s, trim them with a table saw and lay them right on the existing concrete to construct a level platform an inch or two high. Fasten the wood to the existing concrete using a concrete nail gun, either pneumatic or powder-driven.
Then use Trex-like vinyl decking to create a deck on top of the frame. Probably less than $1000 in materials and cb’s crew could do the install.
If you orient the frame parallel to the driveway, you probably don’t even need to cut across the existing driveway for a drain. The water would just flow under the deck and out into the yard.
Instead of pouring a giant slab for the front walkway, use concrete pavers and create an interesting pattern. If you use a relatively flat paver like a brick or tumbled block (e.g. http://www.landscapeonline.com/research/lcdbm/2009/12/img/hardscape/hardscape-4.jpg) you could absolutely create a ramp that is usable. Installing this stuff isn’t rocket science, you could do it yourself.
The existing concrete driveway is already 4" thick, but it has cracks and ugly stuff. Needs to be spruced up to be a ‘patio’. First concrete guy said 2" of 3250 psi would be fine for the application. Also, I am not making any warranties to a buyer that it can be used as a heavy-use parking area. Concrete companies do this a lot when they come out and do the decorative patterns on an existing driveway.
There is 2" to 3" (driveway has slope for water runoff towards end) below the Anderson patio door threshold. So, we have that much room to build up with something.
The wood deck idea is starting to look good - we even own the powder driven ramset gun to drive the platform into the concrete.
a wooden deck does sound good! and it will be a cooler surface than concrete.
Based on my calculations, the patio is 208sf which requires 117 bags of the 80 lb for a 4" slab. I would need the super high strength and I don’t really need 4" (and I don’t have height to pour 4" slab). The Crack Resistant concrete is 4000 psi, so that should do the trick. So, let’s say 60 bags at $5.65 would be $340 if we mixed it ourselves. A big truck has got to be cheaper.
Then add the front walkways (straight with steps to door and the side slope one from driveway) at about 80 bags of regular concrete at about $5 each and that’s another $400.
Then add the 70 linear feet of retaining walls 6" thick and about 18" tall/stem average and that’s probably another 50 bags at $5 so another $250
Concrete cost if you mixed a bunch of bags from Home Depot = $1,000
That’s an awful lot of labor cost 
Two Steps Forward and One Step Back
We are almost there!! Big triple threat inspection Wednesday morning.
Our last tasks involve connecting up the sewage sump pump and running a lot of vent piping from the new bathroom. Most of the vent piping got completed today. But… my carpenter decided he needed to open up the packaged sump pump and double check everything was good before he connected up the piping. Oh boy am I glad he did. Somehow we had managed to break the main discharge ABS pipe coming out of the pump that shoots the poop up 15 ft. It is broken down at the coupling at the pump. Can you imagine what would have happened? I don’t even want to think about it. So, now we are going to have to scramble to several plumbing specialty stores to find the exact pvc/abs coupling that threads into the pump out take. Hope it all comes together before Tuesday night.
I had two more concrete contractors come by today (I have no idea why they answered their phone on Labor Day and came right over to look at the job). We are now going to have to do something about a sewage cleanout to the City line that is sitting right in the area where we want to pour for a front walkway. Dang… another task added to list before we can start our front landscaping project (not that I have any crew available to start the front landscaping!).
Electrician did not get done. Because, of course, we noticed that the final part of the staircase where we are putting a recessed light is sloped. The ceiling is sloped and it will look stupid to have a can sloped sideways. I need to hussle around and find a sloped can.
Meanwhile, the extra carpenter on the job noticed that there might be a big issue with a couple of the kitchen cabinets. I think when we the doors on we will not be able to open door wide enough to use the pull out drawers inside the cabinet. But, I think I have a solution so I need to put on a door and see if it will work without have to pull apart all the installed cabinets.
We also cleared away the last of the cage around the front of the house and tore out the decking.
Photos loaded
looks SO much better!
I think the reason I had to stay away from wooden deck is because it has to legally provide one off street parking spot. Once again… if I go with wooden deck it will be another ‘after final inspection’ project. Uggh
The front looks cute already!
The curb appeal is already improved…without that cage. Really some decent landscaping will just complete that. I forget…are you changing the front door?
Is the parking patio “flat enough” already to use as a patio?
Maybe you could put down an epoxy coating on it to dress it up. Something like what is used for garage floors. That would pretty up the concrete, and it would be waterproof as well.
That sewer cleanout is another reason not to pour a slab out front, but to use fancy pavers. You could just cover it, but it would be easily accessible by prying out a few pavers.
I also loaded some photos of our master bath vanity installed (with blue plastic film over it) and mirrors. I know, I know… floating vanity with potential cleaning nightmare underneath. But, I laid out choices with my real estate agent and she insisted on the floating vanity because it emphasizes the contemporary look and seems to be popular with buyers right now. She says they will not even think about the cleaning issue.
Oh well, it is what it is!
The front door has to stay because it is an expensive ‘sound proof’ door. But, it has peel off sticky fake swirly frosting stuff on the back. I will take that off and it will have clear glass. I may spray some contemporary frosting treatment on the glass interior. And, I’m hoping to paint it a bold color
Speaking of glass… my frosted glass solid backsplash (well, it will have one seam) is getting installed on Friday. I cannot wait!
Concrete from the truck goes for around $90-100/cubic yard.
200 80 lb bags is about 120 cu ft which is about 4.5 yards
You’d have to be insane to mix 200 bags of cement and move it around by hand, especially when it would be 1/2 the cost to get it delivered in a mixer truck, and they could put it right where you want it.
I have avoided concrete as much as possible (except pouring foundations) because it always seems to be so much money.
Agree, there’s no way we are going to mix 200 bags of concrete - I was just trying to come up with worst case cost just for the concrete materials. Unfortunately, we don’t have the skill set or the tools to do the floating/finish work on a concrete pour. We do (well, at least the crew does) have experience setting the forms for concrete.
Wish I could just paint/epoxy/whatever the parking patio, but the concrete has big cracks that someone tried to fill in with black goo. It is level with about a 1" down slope to back of driveway. It’s very unsightly and cannot be fixed with a thin layer of something. It’s either a 2" pour, trying to level it and put pavers down (which I think is going to be hard to do) or a nice wooden deck
The front of the house looks so much better! I’m curious - what was the purpose of the cage in the first place?
My understanding was that the prior owner was elderly and her Son built the entire contraption for ‘security’ so that no one could get to the front door (the little gate had a key lock on it) or look through front window. Probably because she liked to have the front door and/or front windows open for ventilation. There aren’t any other windows/ventilation on that side of the house, except the small bedroom, to encourage the breezes (read… wind) that blows through the house if you open the living room sliders.
The front door has a nice invisible retractable screen door thing that we will probably keep on the door.